Book truck

We started a little school this week, trying to figure out how long things will take and get a workable schedule.  In the past I have used plastic boxes with lids to keep my school supplies in that I need to have handy.  It was convenient to have my things by me but I was interested in a better system.  The idea came to me this week of using a library cart (book truck) – basically, a bookshelf on wheels.

Here is a picture of my mess – unstaged!  A couple of the boxes are the children’s.

A couple pictures of my boys helping assemble my book truck.

 

Not completely organized, I just emptied my boxes and threw things on the shelves.  I’m sure more things will be added as time goes on.

Now whether we are doing school on the couch, at the counter, at the table, or in another room, it will be easy to have my books and supplies with me and quickly find what I need.

Life is like a box of chocolates ~ I never know what I’m gonna get.

Life is like a box of chocolates ~ I never know what I’m gonna get.  Jesse is always doing silly things to make me laugh, I never know what he’s gonna do next.  Today was no exception. 

We have a huge bookshelf in a locked room along with all the toys that tend to clutter our home.  We rotate toys upon approval and limit how many books are out at a time.

This morning I noticed a stack of chapter books in the living room and said “which of these books are being read, I sincerely doubt that they are all being read right now!”  Funny Guy Jesse just had to prove me wrong!

Thanks Jesse for all the laughs!  You really make me smile and brighten our home!  I Love You!

Potty training 101

or should I say 701? 

Yesterday Johanna went poopy in the potty and we were quite excited; as anyone that has ever went through potty training well knows!  We hadn’t really been potty training, but she always wants to go when we change her diaper and she usually pees for us.  Yesterday she pooped and so I thought maybe today I would put undies on her.

She came in from outside wet, so I asked her if she wanted to go potty and she said yes.  So she sat on her little potty right outside my kitchen while I took the wet undies to the laundry.  When I came back she was standing up in the kitchen saying “look” “look.”  So I looked and lo and behold she pooped again!  I cleaned her up and went to clean out the potty thinking all the while “woo hoo day two!”  As I was coming back I noticed a few mysterious spots on the floor, when I got closer they were no longer a mystery.

First lesson in Potty Training 701 ~ when Johanna thinks she’s done, make her sit a little longer.  Looking back, she added a little more to her diaper shortly after she pooped in the pot yesterday.  Hopefully I won’t have to relearn this lesson!

P.S. girls are easier than boys!

Running errands

A couple happening while at Kroger this A.M.

We can’t go anywhere without needing to use the restroom.  Thankfully this 2 hour trip we only visited 1!  Johanna said she wanted to go so I took her too.  She isn’t officially being trained yet, but she knows what to do.  On the way out of the stall I was praising her for going potty and asked for a high 5.  She was distracted by other things but gave me a high five anyway, right in the middle of my face!  Ouch!

A couple moments later as we were getting drinks, imagine my horror to hear a bang and crash and realize a child and cart was missing!!!  THANKFULLY it was a maintenance man that caused the noise and it did not involve my child! 

Now I am working on school as I wait for the children to make lunch.  I looked over and saw that they have added some green food coloring to the mayonnaise they are making and now we have green mayonnaise!

How’s that for some lovely green mayonnaise on your bread?

Top it off with a fried egg, what could be better than that?

Slip of the tongue

We just got home from gathering cucumbers from friends to pickle.  One friend also gave us some fresh dill out of her garden. 

When we got home the children were carrying the produce in for me while I got lunch started. 

One child came in sniffing the dill and said “hey Mom, this is good stuff!  I can feel it clearing my navel passages!” 

Diet update

I started this update several weeks ago and just realized I never published it.  Sorry if I talked to you about the update and you had no idea what I was talking about! 

Over a month ago we had our Sunday School picnic.  We had been strict on our diet with no exceptions for about a month.  I thought I would make a special “Ultra Healthy” dessert as a treat, surely a healthy treat would be fine.  Here were the ingredients…

Home canned peaches

The juice from the canned peaches (with very little honey)

Natural peanut butter (peanuts and salt, nothing else)

Oatmeal

So!  What do you think?  Pretty simple?  How can that hurt anybody?

WELL!  Thankfully it wasn’t the complete emotional meltdown that we had earlier from typical “loaded” desserts, but we DID have a bad day on Monday.  In general this child has been much easier to handle since we’ve been strict with no exceptions, though he still doesn’t fit “in the box.”  Anyway, though it wasn’t a complete breakdown, we had constant problems and instead of responding to discipline he just kept getting more angry and then into more trouble.  I spent plenty of time in prayer seeking grace and wisdom to get me through the day.

So here we are, at least now I know what we need to do to help him have the best opportunity to feel well and learn to the best of his ability. 

It strikes me as an analogy.  I hardly believed that fruit and a little sweetener could affect someone so much.  I believed the desserts part, but not necessarily how badly 1 or 2 desserts can affect someone.  It wasn’t till I submitted and followed through with the diet that I was able to “see” the light!  How true is that in our walk with the Lord.  We have a hard time believing that doing something God’s way will be good for us but when we submit to Him and do it His way then our eyes are opened and we can “see” clearly!

Speaking of “seeing” things.  I can’t see the computer when my eyes keep closing of their own accord so I guess I should go for now!  Hopefully the children will start finishing some posts soon so this blog stays active, I seem to have less and less time these days!

Thank God for communication!

I am working in the kitchen this afternoon making some slaw for supper.  I saw Jonas take a kitchen rag but didn’t think much about it.  A couple minutes ago I was at the sink when Jonas put the rag back on the sink and said “I cleaned the toilet!”

I am SOOOO glad he was SOOOO proud of himself that he felt he needed to tell me what he was doing!  Otherwise I may never have known! 

Don’t think about it too deeply!  Just thank God!!!   

We have been pretty busy around here so I haven’t posted much lately, but this just happened and must certainly be shared!

Surprise!

Chad came home at lunch today with a dozen roses for me!  Boy, was I surprised!

No, it’s not our anniversary, not my birthday, just because he loves me!

I am so blessed!  Thank You Lord!

Not a good picture of me, but it’s a memory I cherish and so I post it anyway.

DeSototo State Park 2011 Part 3

THURSDAY!

We started off on top of the rock so Chad could get the safety ropes set up.

I had these great “photographer ideas” of taking pictures from the top of the rock. I had imaginations of the great pictures of the shear determination in their faces as the children struggled to reach that goal of touching the caribiner at the top of the rock.

Three minutes was all it took to realize that those fantasy pictures were not going to happen that day! I was cookin’ on top of that rock!!!!! No Joke! I was off the rock before Chad was finished setting up. We’ll have to do some rock climbing in the early spring or autumn to get those shots! Maybe, just maybe, if I was more experienced and had a better chance at getting that Awesome shot, maybe it would have been worth it.

Waiting…

The Rock ~ with Jolene about half way up and Chad on the ground as a reference for height. Note – this was a beginner rock.

Jolene ~ at the top!

Javan and Jared ~ Conquered it!

Yep! Even Jubilee made it to the top!

The hard part?

Getting her down again! Jesse was the hero that saved the day!

Note ~ it’s best to teach children to trust the rope when they are just a few feet off the ground! Coming down really is fun if you trust!

Chad ~ He made it to the top too, but climbing make a more interesting shot.

AND ~ The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For!

Uh hum…

DRUM ROLL PLEASE…………….

Yep! I made it too and more than once Thank You!

Sorry Jonas, we can’t forget your adventurous spirit! He conquered a couple rocks as well, but these were a little safer for a 4 year old!

From here we went to the Blue Hole, another swimming hole, and this time with a rope swing.

Jesse with a nice long swing.

Javan

Jared - Look Out Below!!!!

Jolene – she did make it a little further than this on subsequent tries.

Jubilee did quite well on the rope swing but she didn’t try it till I had already put the camera back in the van. She was so cute swing with her legs all curled up Indian style, I really wish I had a picture.

Chad and I both took our turn on the rope swing; it was pretty fun. The first time I didn’t make it any farther than Jolene, but once I learned the best way to hold I did o.k.

It was somewhat of a hillbilly swimming hole with a variety of characters in the water. Perhaps they thought the same of us.

Friday we went back to the same area for rock climbing. One rope we set up at the same spot as the day before and the other rope we set up at a nearby wall that was more challenging, for us anyway.

Coming down is lots of fun!

Friday we thought to bring toys for the little ones and things went a lot smoother!

Not sure who Jubilee was talking to but you would never have known it wasn’t a real phone! She carried on a well timed conversation, you could just imagine the response on the other end of the line!

You had to keep an eye on the younger children because even though they didn’t want to put on the harness and climb like us they tried to climb anything they could!

Don’t look Grandma!

Jesse belaying for Javan. The rope is securely tied to the climbers harness and the other end is looped through a security device called a belay device. As the climber climbs, the rope gets slack, the job of the boler is to pull up the slack. One hand feeds the slack through the bole device, the other hand pulls the dangling end down in a locked position so if the climber slips the rope is secure and he just swings on the rope.

On Saturday we packed up and moved out. We stopped on the way out of the park at a dam/falls we hadn’t seen.

The rock wall in the background was really beautiful and while we observed the wall we also got to enjoy watching some people repel down.

You could tell the lady was a beginner.

If you look closely, you can see some people at the top waiting their turn, and the two repelling near the bottom.

It was also very clear that the man was NOT a beginner! :0)

If you were wondering what happened when they got to the bottom, well, they just dropped into the water and swam to shore! Looked like lots of fun!

The water fall was pretty but it was hard to get a good angle to block out the damn and the danger signs.

We went to Nashville from there and spent the night with Mike and Monica Fritz, attended church with them on Sunday and drove home from there.

We really enjoyed the area we went to with the swimming holes and rock climbing. I think it would be about unanimous with the rock climbing topping our adventure and the rope swing a close second.

I will close with a few parting shots taken with Daddy’s camera – the only one the children are allowed to use.

Self portraits of Jubilee…

Doesn’t her beauty just draw you in?

And those eyes!

I’m thinking “scrapbook material” for her wedding scrapbook!

Praise God for answered prayer!

We have the privilege of doing a friends chores and using their pool while they are gone for the weekend.  Today was hot and the water was perfect!  It was the first time in several years of them letting us use their pool while they were away that I actually enjoyed swimming!  Usually the children are saying “it’s not that bad” when in actuality it’s down-right cold!

I am always prayerful before and while we are swimming.  I know the dangers that can happen under a watchful eye if you are distracted for even a few minutes.  I hope I always remember to thank God for safety He has provided at the end of our day.  Today it was very clear to me how God answered my prayer.

Jubilee had taken off her life jacket and gone to the swing set for awhile.  When she came back she forgot that she wasn’t wearing her life jacket and ran directly to the deep end and jumped!  I firmly believe it was God that made me recognize as she was about to jump that she didn’t have her life jacket on.  I constantly count heads, but recognizing that a life jacket was missing in such a short time isn’t likely for my easily distracted mind. 

It is possible that if the circumstances were different and my attention was elsewhere at the time that she could have drowned before I even realized she wasn’t at the swing set anymore.  It’s a sobering thought, but I know that God is in control and He is able to guide my thoughts to the important details in a moment of time.  I praise God that I was able to kiss her sweet warm lips goodnight tonight!